Systems and methods for intraoral device quality control

ABSTRACT

A method for analyzing a quality of a dental aligner includes receiving, by a processor, a digital dental aligner generated based on a fabricated dental aligner. The method also includes analyzing, by the processor, the digital dental aligner to identify a quality characteristic of the fabricated dental aligner. The method also includes flagging, by the processor, the fabricated dental aligner based on the identified quality characteristic.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/541,479, filed Aug. 15, 2019, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to analyzing fabricatedintraoral devices, and more particularly, to systems and methods forinspecting the quality of fabricated intraoral devices, such as dentalaligners.

BACKGROUND

Intraoral devices may be worn by a patient receiving orthodontictreatment. Some intraoral devices, such as dental aligners, retainers,and dentures, may be fabricated by thermoforming a material to a dentalmold. After thermoforming the material to the dental mold, the formedmaterial is cut from the dental mold, and visually inspected by atechnician for quality assurance purposes. However, such manual visualinspections are time consuming, and it may be difficult to determinethrough manual visual inspections whether the fabricated intraoraldevice matches the dental mold or whether there are other issues withthe fabricated intraoral device.

SUMMARY

According to an example embodiment, a method for analyzing a quality ofa dental aligner includes receiving, by a processor, a digital dentalaligner generated based on a fabricated dental aligner. The method alsoincludes analyzing, by the processor, the digital dental aligner toidentify a quality characteristic of the fabricated dental aligner. Inresponse to determining, that the quality characteristic is anomalous,the method includes causing, by the processor, a fabrication computingsystem to fabricate a replacement dental aligner.

According to another example embodiment, a system for analyzing aquality of a dental aligner includes a processor and memory coupled tothe processor and storing instructions that, when executed by theprocessor, cause the processor to receive, a digital dental alignergenerated based on a fabricated dental aligner, analyze the digitaldental aligner to identify a quality characteristic of the fabricateddental aligner, determine that the quality characteristic is anomalous,and cause a fabrication computing system to fabricate a replacementdental aligner.

According to another example embodiment, a quality control systemincludes an imaging system, a processor, and a memory coupled to theprocessor and storing instructions. The imaging system is configured toenhance a quality characteristic of a fabricated dental aligner, capturean image of the quality characteristic, and generate a digital dentalaligner including the quality characteristic of the fabricated dentalaligner based on the captured image. When the instructions are executedby the process, the instructions cause the processor to analyze thequality characteristic of the digital dental aligner, determine that thequality characteristic is anomalous, and cause a replacement dentalaligner to be fabricated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other features of the various embodiments of themethods and apparatuses described herein will become more apparent fromthe following detailed description and the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system for fabricating dentalaligners, according to an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a dental aligner fabricated using thesystem of FIG. 1, according to an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a quality control system for analyzing thequality of fabricated dental aligners, according to an illustrativeembodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a method for analyzing surface quality offabricated dental aligners, according to an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method for analyzing fit quality offabricated dental aligners, according to an illustrative embodiment; and

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a method for analyzing the quality offabricated dental aligners, according to another illustrativeembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before turning to the figures, which illustrate certain exampleembodiments in detail, it should be understood that the presentdisclosure is not limited to the details or methodology set forth in thedescription or illustrated in the figures. It should also be understoodthat the terminology used herein is for the purpose of description onlyand should not be regarded as limiting.

Referring generally to the figures, described herein are systems andmethods for inspecting the quality of fabricated intraoral devices, suchas dental aligners. While this application refers to dental alignersspecifically throughout, it will be appreciated that the systems andmethod disclosed herein could also be used to inspect the quality ofother intraoral devices, such as retainers, dentures, and mouth guards,among other devices. According to various embodiments, a computingdevice analyzes one or more digital representations of the fabricateddental aligner (e.g., a 2D image, a virtual 3D model, or the like) toensure that the fabricated dental aligner was formed and cut properlyfrom a dental mold to conform to a patient's dentition. For example, insome embodiments, the computing device analyzes various 2D image viewsof the dental aligner and/or a virtual 3D model of the dental aligner toensure that various quality characteristics of the fabricated dentalaligner are acceptable, such as that the dental aligner was formed andcut to specification and within tolerance (e.g., thickness, dentitioncoverage, shape, color, clarity, and/or the like) without surfaceimperfections (e.g., cracks, holes, bubbles, thinned areas, and/or thelike).

In some embodiments, a digital representation of the fabricated dentalaligner (e.g., a 2D image, a virtual 3D model, or the like) may becompared with a digital representation of the patient's dentition (e.g.,a 2D image of a model of the patient's dentition, a digital 3D model ofthe patient's dentition, or the like) to determine whether shapes andgeometries (e.g., contours, features, dental arch, and/or the like) ofthe dental aligner match the shapes and geometries of the patient'sdentition. In some embodiments, the digital representation of thefabricated dental aligner may be compared with a digital cut line fileto determine whether the dental aligner was properly trimmed. In variousembodiments, the computing device may use various suitable objectdetection and image comparison algorithms to automatically detectpotential abnormalities in the digital representation of the fabricateddental aligner 130, such that the fabricated dental aligner 130 isflagged indicating that the fabricated dental aligner is rejected or isa potential reject. In some embodiments, any flagged dental aligners 130may be presented for further review (e.g., by a dental technician orother professional). In some embodiments, any flagged dental aligner 130may cause (e.g., trigger) the fabrication computing system 102 tofabricate a replacement dental aligner 130 for the correspondingpatient. For example, in some embodiments, the quality control system300 may transmit a message to the fabrication computing system 102and/or the fabrication system 104 to fabricate another dental alignerfor the corresponding patient. The replacement dental aligner isfabricated to be the same as the dental aligner that it is replacing butwithout any defects. In some embodiments, the fabrication process forthe replacement dental aligner may be modified to avoid an occurrence ofthe same defect or another defect. For example, the modification to thefabrication process may be a modification to the dental mold, thematerial to be thermoformed to the dental mold, a thermoforming process,a marking process, a cutting process, or any other fabrication process.In some embodiments, flagging the dental aligner 130 may includeproviding, by the quality control system 300, an alert or message (e.g.,a visual alert on a display screen, an audible alert, etc.) to atechnician indicating that additional review of the dental aligner isrecommended or needed.

In some embodiments, the computing device may analyze one or moredigital representations of the dental mold (e.g., a 2D image, a virtual3D model, or the like) used to form the dental aligner to ensure thatthe same dental mold can be used to form subsequent dental aligners forthe patient. For example, in some embodiments, the same dental mold maybe used to generate a plurality of dental aligners for the patient forat least one stage (e.g., an initial stage, an intermediate stage, or afinal stage) or for each stage of a treatment plan, such that each ofthe formed dental aligners for the same stage of the treatment planincludes the same shape but with a different thickness or constructed ofa different material (e.g., a harder or softer material). In someembodiments, each of the formed dental aligners for the same stage ofthe treatment plan may be formed and cut from the same dental mold withthe same or different cut line. In some embodiments, the computingdevice may analyze the digital representation of the dental mold toensure that the dental mold is capable of forming a subsequent dentalaligner (e.g., no breaches in the dental mold, no cracks or holes in thewall of the dental mold, no burns or abrasions in the dental mold from aprevious cut, and/or the like).

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a system 100 for fabricating dentalaligners, according to some embodiments. The system 100 is shown toinclude a dental aligner fabrication computing system 102, a fabricationsystem 104, and a quality control system 300. In some embodiments, thesystem 100 receives dentition scans 108 (e.g., from a suitable imagingor scanning system), and may fabricate dental aligners 130 from thedentition scans 108. In various embodiments, the dentition scans 108 arethree-dimensional representations of a patient's dentition. For example,in some embodiments, the dentition scans 108 may be digital scans ofphysical dental impressions (e.g., captured by a dental technician, adentist, the patient using an in-home impression kit, or the like). Inother embodiments, the dentition scans 108 may be direct scans of apatient's dentition, for example, as captured by scanning the patient'sdentition with a three-dimensional camera. In various embodiments, thedentition scans 108 may be used for fabricating a suitable intraoraldevice, such as the dental aligner 130 shown in FIG. 2.

In some implementations, the fabrication computing system 102 may beembodied as or include a processing circuit which includes a processor110 and memory 112. The processor 110 may be a general purposesingle-chip or multi-chip processor, a digital signal processor (DSP),an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmablegate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate ortransistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A generalpurpose processor may be a microprocessor, or, any conventionalprocessor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor110 may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, suchas a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality ofmicroprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSPcore, or any other such configuration. In some embodiments, particularprocesses and methods may be performed by circuitry that is specific toa given function.

The memory 112 (e.g., memory, memory unit, storage device) may includeone or more devices (e.g., RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, optical diskstorage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, flashmemory, hard disk storage, or any other medium) for storing data and/orcomputer code for completing or facilitating the various processes,layers and circuits described in the present disclosure. The memory 112may be or include volatile memory or non-volatile memory, and mayinclude database components, object code components, script components,or any other type of information structure for supporting the variousactivities and information structures described in the presentdisclosure. According to an illustrative embodiment, the memory 112 iscommunicably connected to the processor 110 via a processing circuit andincludes computer code for executing (e.g., by the processing circuit orthe processor 110) the processes described herein.

The memory 112 may store various modules or be comprised of a system ofcircuits. The circuits may include hardware, memory, and/or othercomponents configured or implemented to execute various functions. Asshown in FIG. 1, in some embodiments, the memory 112 may include (orstore) a treatment planner 114 and a model analyzer 118. The treatmentplanner 114 may be a circuit designed or implemented to perform variousfunctions corresponding to generating a treatment plan for the patient'sdentition (e.g., based on the dentition scans 108). The treatmentplanner 114 may use the treatment plan to generate one or more planmodels (e.g., digital 3D models) based on the treatment plan. The planmodels may be three-dimensional representations of the patient'sdentition at various intervals (e.g., at the start of the treatment planand at various intervals throughout the treatment plan). The modelanalyzer 118 may be configured to analyze the plan models and/orphysical models (e.g., dental molds) for fabricating dental aligners130.

In various embodiments, the treatment planner 114 is configured toproduce, generate, assemble, compile, or otherwise create a treatmentplan for moving various teeth of a patient's dentition. The treatmentplan may be a series of movements for teeth of a patient's dentitionfrom a starting arrangement to an ending arrangement. The treatment planmay be generated by or through use of the treatment planner 114. In someembodiments, a dental technician or professional uses the treatmentplanner 114 to generate the treatment plan by manipulating individualteeth or groups of teeth shown in the dentition scans 108. For instance,the treatment planner 114 may present the dentition scans 108 to thedental professional, who can then manipulate various teeth within thedentition scans 108.

The treatment planner 114 is configured to generate various stages ofthe treatment plan to move the teeth from the starting position (e.g.,their current position as represented within the dentition scan 108) toa final position selected or provided by the dental professional. Insome embodiments, the treatment planner 114 is configured to create thetreatment plan without the assistance of a dental professional. Forinstance, the treatment planner 114 may analyze the dentition scans 108to align the teeth with a dental arch fitted to the teeth. The treatmentplanner 114 may then generate various stages of the treatment plan tomove the teeth from the starting position to the final position. Forexample, the treatment planner 114 may generate one or more plan models(e.g., digital 3D models) corresponding to each interval or stage of thetreatment plan.

In various examples, the patient is provided a dental aligner 130 to beworn at each stage of the treatment plan for a predetermined duration(e.g., one week, two weeks, one month). The dental aligners 130 areconstructed from a material thermoformed (e.g., via a thermoformingsystem 105) to a physical model (e.g., as generated by the modelgeneration system 116) and are worn in the patient's mouth (e.g., overthe patient's teeth). The dental aligners 130 apply a force on at leastone of the patient's teeth to move at least one tooth according to thetreatment plan.

In some embodiments, at least one stage (e.g., an initial stage) or eachstage of the treatment plan includes more than one dental aligner 130having the same shape but having a different thickness or beingconstructed of a different material (e.g., a harder or softer material).For example, the treatment plan can specify that the patient wears thesoftest dental aligner in a first sub-stage, followed by a dentalaligner of medium hardness, followed by the hardest dental aligner. Inthis way, the patient can be acclimated to the dental aligner 130 forthe at least one stage or for each of the stages of the treatment plan,by starting with the softer dental aligner and working up to the hardestdental aligner. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto,and in other embodiments, the patient may be provided with only onedental aligner 130 for each stage or for some stages of the treatmentplan.

In some embodiments, the model generation system 116 generates models(e.g., physical models such as dental molds) of the patient's dentitionat the various stages of the treatment plan generated by or using thetreatment planner 114. The model generator 116 generates a plurality ofphysical models including an initial model, a final model, and at leastone intermediate model. The initial model corresponds to a first stageof the treatment plan. The final model corresponds to a final stage ofthe treatment plan. Each intermediate model corresponds to anintermediate stage of the treatment plan. In some embodiments, themodels generated by the model generator 116 may be physical 3D models ofthe patient's dentition at the various stages of the treatment plan. Forexample, in some embodiments, the model generator 116 may include (or becommunicably coupled to) a 3D printer to print the physical 3D models.However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and in otherembodiments, the model generator 116 may generate the physical 3D modelsusing any suitable methods or devices, for example, such as sculpting,pressing, casting, molding, or the like.

In some embodiments, during fabrication of the dental aligners 130, thematerial thermoformed to the physical model (e.g., via the thermoformingsystem 105) is trimmed, such that the fabricated dental aligner 130 canfit comfortably within the patient's mouth. In some embodiments, thedental aligners 130 are trimmed to include representations of thepatient's teeth and a portion of the patient's gingiva (otherwisereferred to as the patient's gums). As described in greater detailbelow, the model analyzer 118 is configured to determine a cut line forthe dental aligners 130 and the model analyzer 118 is configured tocontrol or provide instructions (e.g., a cut line file) to the cuttingsystem 106 to cut the dental aligners 130 along the cut line.

For example, in some embodiments, the model analyzer 118 may beconfigured to identify the teeth and gingiva (e.g., gum) portions of themodel (e.g., plan model or physical model) corresponding to thepatient's dentition. For example, the teeth portion of the modelcorresponds to the teeth of the patient's dentition, and the gingivaportion of the model corresponds to a portion of the gingiva of thepatient's dentition. In some embodiments, the model analyzer 118 may beconfigured to identify the teeth portion within the model using a teethidentification algorithm. The teeth identification algorithm mayidentify various characteristics within the model which are consistentwith the teeth portion, such as surface contours of crowns, separationor gaps in the interproximal region (e.g., the space between the teethportion), and/or the like. In some embodiments, the model analyzer 118may be configured to identify the teeth portion within the model, andother portions of the model that are not identified as the teeth portionmay be identified as the gingiva portion of the model. In someembodiments, the model analyzer 118 may be configured to generate anobject (OBJ) file including each of the teeth and gingiva portions, witheach of the teeth and gingiva portions being represented as separateobjects within the OBJ file.

In some embodiments, the model analyzer 118 is configured to identify agingival line for the model (e.g., plan model or physical model) of thepatient's dentition. The gingival line may be defined as the juncture orinterface between the teeth portion and the gingiva portion of themodel. In some embodiments, the model analyzer 118 may be configured toidentify the gingival line by identifying a location where the teethportion and gingiva portion of the model meet. As described above, themodel analyzer 118 may be configured to identify a location of the teethportion within the model, and may identify the location of the gingivaportion as the remaining portions of the model that are not identifiedas the teeth portion. Similarly, the model analyzer 118 may identify thegingival line based on where the portions of the model identified as theteeth portion meet portions of the model (e.g., the remaining portions)identified as the gingiva portion.

In some embodiments, the model analyzer includes a cut line determiner124. The cut line determiner 124 is configured to define a cut line forthe dental aligner 130. The cut line is a line or path which extendsaround the model (e.g., dental mold) of the patient's dentition anddefines a travel path for a cutting tool 128 of the cutting system 106.The cut line determiner 124 (or a cutting system controller) may controlthe cutting tool 128 (e.g., various actuators which manipulate orotherwise move the cutting tool 128) to move along the cut line to cutthe dental aligner 130 from the model (e.g., from the dental mold). Inother embodiments, the cut line determiner 124 (or the cutting systemcontroller) may move the model (with the dental aligner 130 positionedthereon) relative to the cutting tool 128 such that the cutting tool 128can cut the dental aligner 130 from the model along the cut line.

Referring to FIG. 2, a dental aligner 130 fabricated using the system100 of FIG. 1 is shown, according to some embodiments. In someembodiments, the dental aligner 130 is fabricated and cut (e.g., alongthe cut line) to fit comfortably within the patient's mouth. In someembodiments, the dental aligner 130 is configured to cover the patient'steeth and a portion of the patient's gingiva. Thus, as shown in FIG. 2,the resulting dental aligner 130 includes a gingiva portion 132corresponding to the portion of the patient's gingiva, and teeth portion134 corresponding to the patient's teeth.

Referring back to FIG. 1, in some embodiments, after the dental aligner130 is cut from the model (e.g., dental mold) along the cut line, thequality control system 300 analyzes the fabricated dental aligner 130 toensure that the dental aligner 130 was formed and cut properly tocorrectly fit the patient's dentition. For example, in some embodiments,the quality control system 300 may determine whether various qualitycharacteristics of the fabricated dental aligner 130 are abnormal oranomalous, such as, for example, whether there are any cracks, holes,bubbles, areas of opacity, discoloration, or other surface imperfectionsin the fabricated dental aligner 130. In some embodiments, the qualitycontrol system 300 may determine whether various quality characteristicsof the fabricated dental aligner 130 are acceptable, for example,whether the fabricated dental aligner 130 matches the contours andfeatures of the patient's dentition correctly, covers the patient'sdentition properly, and/or the like. In some embodiments, the qualitycontrol system 300 may determine whether the fabricated dental aligner130 was cut properly from the dental mold. In some embodiments, thequality control system 300 may inspect the dental mold used to form thefabricated dental aligner 130 to determine whether the dental mold is ina suitable condition to form additional dental aligners 130 for thepatient. An example embodiment of the quality control system 300 isshown and described in more detail with reference to FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative quality control system 300 for analyzingfabricated dental aligners, according to some embodiments. In someembodiments, the quality control system 300 may analyze the dentalaligners 130 fabricated by the system 100 as described with reference toFIG. 1. While the present disclosure primarily refers to analyzingdental aligners, it is noted that the present disclosure is not limitedto only analyzing dental aligners. The present disclosure may be usedfor analyzing other fabricated intraoral devices such as, but notlimited to, mouth guards, retainers, expansion aligners, dentures,and/or the like. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that any system orprocess disclosed herein can also be used to analyze intraoral devicesother than dental aligners.

In use, as described further below, the quality control system 300acquires or generates one or more digital representations (e.g., a 2Dimage, a virtual 3D model, or the like) of the fabricated dental aligner130 (also referred to as a “digital dental aligner”), and analyzes thedigital dental aligners 310 to identify any surface imperfections in thecorresponding fabricated dental aligner 130. For example, in someembodiments, after the dental aligner 130 is cut from the dental mold,the dental aligner 130 may be scanned (e.g., using a suitablestereoscopic imaging device), and/or one or more photographs of thedental aligner 130 may be captured (e.g., using a camera or othersuitable imaging device), such that the digital dental aligner 310 isacquired or generated by the quality control system 300. In someembodiments, the quality control system 300 compares the digital dentalaligner 310 with one or more digital representations (e.g., a 2D image,a 3D model, or the like) of the patient's dentition (also referred to asa “digital dentition”) to determine whether various qualitycharacteristics (e.g., contours and features) of the dental aligner 130match (e.g., fit, align with) various contours and features of thepatient's dentition. In some embodiments, the digital dental aligner maybe compared with a digital cut line file (e.g., as generated by the cutline determiner 124 of FIG. 1) used during fabrication of the dentalaligner 130. In some embodiments, the quality control system 300 mayacquire or generate one or more digital representations (e.g., a 2Dimage, a virtual 3D model, or the like) of the dental mold used to formthe dental aligner 130, and may analyze the digital representation(s) ofthe dental mold to determine whether there are any issues with thedental mold. Accordingly, in various embodiments, quality inspections ofdental aligners 130 may be automated, while improving inspection qualityand time over manual visual inspections by a technician.

As shown in FIG. 3, the quality control system 300 illustrativelyincludes a quality analysis system 302 and an imaging system 304. Inother embodiments, the quality control system 300 may include other oradditional components and devices commonly found in a server computer orsimilar computing device, such as, for example, various input/outputdevices. Before describing the quality control system 300 in moredetail, it should be noted that the components of the quality controlsystem 300 can be integrated within a single device or distributedacross multiple separate systems or devices. For example, in variousembodiments, the quality analysis system 302 may be embodied as anysuitable type of computation or computer device capable of performingthe functions described herein, including, without limitation, acomputer, a server, a workstation, a desktop computer, a laptopcomputer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a mobile computingdevice, a wearable computing device, a network appliance, a webappliance, a distributed computing system, a processor-based system,and/or a consumer electronic device.

In other embodiments, some or all of the components of the qualityanalysis system 302 and/or the imaging system 304 can be implemented aspart of a cloud-based computing system. For example, in someembodiments, the quality analysis system 302 may be embodied as a“virtual server” formed from multiple computing devices distributedacross a network and operating in a public or private cloud. In stillother embodiments, some or all of the components of the quality analysissystem 302 and/or the imaging system 304 can be components of the system100, for example, such as part of the fabrication computing system 102or the fabrication system 104. In yet other embodiments, some or all ofthe components of the quality analysis system 302 and/or the imagingsystem 304 may be distributed across various components of the system100, for example, such as part of the thermoforming system 105 and partof the cutting system 106. Accordingly, although the quality analysissystem 302 is illustrated in FIG. 3 as embodied in a single servercomputing device coupled to the imaging system 304, it should beappreciated that any of the quality analysis system 302 and theimagining system 304 may be embodied in multiple devices cooperatingtogether to facilitate the functionalities described herein.

In some embodiments, the imaging system 304 generates or acquires adigital dental aligner (e.g., 2D images, 3D virtual model, and/or thelike) for a corresponding fabricated dental aligner 130. For example, insome embodiments, the imaging system 304 may receive the fabricateddental aligner 130 from the fabrication system 104 to generate acorresponding digital dental aligner 310 from the fabricated dentalaligner 130. In various embodiments, the imaging system 304 includes anysuitable device, component, or combinations of devices or componentsconfigured to capture or generate the digital dental aligners 310corresponding to digital representations of the fabricated dentalaligners 130. For example, in some embodiments, the imaging system 304includes a contour enhancing device 306 and an imaging device 308 togenerate the digital dental aligners 310 from the fabricated dentalaligners 130. While the contour enhancing device 306 and the imagingdevice 308 are shown as separate devices in FIG. 3, the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto, and in other embodiments, the contourenhancing device 306 and the imaging device 308 may be the same device,may be different devices, or may be parts of the same device ordifferent devices.

In some embodiments, the contour enhancing device 306 may enhance thecontours and features of the fabricated dental aligner 130, such thatthe contours and features can be detected by the imaging device 308 togenerate the corresponding digital dental aligner 310. For example, insome embodiments, the fabricated dental aligner 130 may be a cleardental aligner, such that the contours and features of the fabricateddental aligner 130 may not be easily detected by the imaging device 308.In some embodiments, the contour enhancing device 306 may enhance thecontours and features of the clear dental aligner 130, such that theimaging device 308 can detect the contours and features of the dentalaligner 130 to generate the corresponding digital dental aligner 310. Invarious embodiments, the contour enhancing device 306 may include anysuitable device, component, or combinations of devices or componentsconfigured to enhance the contours and features of the clear dentalaligner 130, such that the contours and features can be detected by theimaging device 308 to generate the corresponding digital dental aligner310 for inspecting the quality of the fabricated dental aligner 130.

For example, in some embodiments, the contour enhancing device 306 mayemit light (e.g., a light beam, narrow light beam, or laser) into thedental aligner 130 such that the contours and features of the dentalaligner 130 are enhanced. For example, in some embodiments, the lightmay be emitted into or onto the dental aligner 130 with a narrow beamangle, such that the beam angle allows the light to reflect off of atleast a portion of the surface of dental aligner 130. In someembodiments, the narrow light beam can have a beam angle in the range of1 to 30 degrees, 1 to 20 degrees, 4 to 15 degrees, 6 to 12 degrees, or 8to 10 degrees. In some embodiments, the narrow light beam can have abeam angle that is less than 4 degrees, less than 6 degrees, less than 8degrees, or less than 10 degrees. For example, a very narrow spot can beused to produce the narrow light beam and can have a beam angle of 7degrees or less for a multifaceted reflector lamp or less than 15degrees for a parabolic aluminized reflector lamp. In another example, anarrow spot can have a beam angle of 8 to 15 degrees for a multifacetedreflector lamp or 16 to 30 degrees for a parabolic aluminized reflectorlamp. As used herein, beam angle may be determined by the angle betweena point where the beam intensity is strongest (i.e., at a centerdirectly beneath the light) to a point where the intensity of the lightis 50% of the strongest intensity. In some embodiments, the light may beemitted into the dental aligner 130 at an oblique angle, such that theoblique lighting reflects off of surface imperfections in the dentalaligner 130 differently than other parts of the dental aligner 130, orotherwise enables identification of the surface imperfections in theclear dental aligner material (e.g., through shadows or the like). Insome embodiments, the light may be emitted at a particular spectrum oflight corresponding to the material of the dental aligner 130, such thatthe light only transmits through surface imperfections of the dentalaligner 130 or transmits in a different color through surfaceimperfections in the dental aligner 130 than through other parts of thedental aligner 130. In some embodiments, the light may only transmitthrough surface imperfections such as cracks, holes, bubbles, discoloredareas, and/or the like in the dental aligner 130, or may transmitthrough surface imperfections in a luminance or color different fromother parts of the dental aligner 130, such that any surfaceimperfections in the dental aligner 130 can be easily detected based onthe color, spectrum, and/or luminance of the light emitted through thesurface imperfections of the fabricated dental aligner 130. Accordingly,in some embodiments, the contour enhancing device 306 may enhance thesurface imperfections of the fabricated dental aligner 130, such thatthe surface imperfections may be captured by the imaging device 308 togenerate the corresponding digital dental aligners 310 (e.g., 2D views,virtual 3D model, or the like).

In another example, in some embodiments, the contour enhancing device306 may transmit RF waves, acoustic waves (e.g., ultrasonic waves), orother wave mediums onto the dental aligner 130 such that the contoursand features of the dental aligner 130 are enhanced. For example, insome embodiments, the RF waves or acoustic waves transmitted onto thedental aligner 130 may reflect off the material of the dental aligner130 such that the imaging device 308 can generate the digital dentalaligners 310 based on the reflection of the waves off the fabricateddental aligner 130. In another example, in some embodiments, the contourenhancing device 306 may transmit X-ray waves onto the dental aligner130 to map the contours and features of the dental aligner 130, similarto a computer tomography scanning device (e.g., CAT scanning device).

In yet another example, in some embodiments, the contour enhancingdevice 306 may apply a suitable material or coating on the dentalaligners 130 such that the contours and features of the dental aligner130 are enhanced. For example, in some embodiments, the dental aligner130 may be sprayed, dipped, coated, brushed, or otherwise prepared witha powder material (e.g., a starch material or a matted powder material)or a viscous material (e.g., food grade spray material) such that theshapes and geometries of the patient's dentition (e.g., shapes of teeth,gingival line, interproximal regions, and/or the like) in the cleardental aligner 130 can be detected by the imaging device 308. In someembodiments, the material or coating may be easily removable (e.g.,washable, dissolvable, and/or the like) from the dental aligner 130,and/or may be safe for human consumption. In still another example, insome embodiments, the contour enhancing device 306 may apply thermalradiance to the dental aligner 130 that warms the contours and featuresof the dental aligner 130 differently from other parts of the dentalaligner 130, and the imaging device 308 may include a thermal imagingdevice to detect the contours and features of the dental aligner 130. Inyet other examples, the contour enhancing device 306 may include a gridarray, needle array, light bed, or any other suitable device thatenhances or otherwise enables detection of the contours and features ofa clear dental aligner. While various examples of the contour enhancingdevice 306 are provided, the present disclosure is not limited thereto,and in other embodiments, the contour enhancing device 306 may beomitted, may use a combination of methods described herein to enhancethe contours and features of a clear dental aligner, or may use othermethods or combinations of methods to enhance the contours and featuresof a clear dental aligner, such that the contours and features may becaptured by the imaging device 308 to generate a corresponding digitaldental aligner 310.

In various embodiments, the imaging device 308 may include any suitabledevice, component, or combinations of devices or components configuredto detect and capture various contours and features (e.g., shapes,geometries, surface imperfections, and/or the like) of the fabricateddental aligner 130 to generate one or more suitable digital dentalaligners 310. A suitable digital dental aligner 310 is a digitalrepresentation (e.g., 2D image, virtual 3D model, or the like) of thefabricated dental aligner 130 that shows or describes the surfacegeometry (e.g., corresponding to the shapes and geometries of thepatient's dentition) and/or surface imperfections (e.g., holes, cracks,bubbles, discoloration, and/or the like) of the fabricated dentalaligner 130. For example, in some embodiments, a suitable digital dentalaligner 310 may include various 2D image views of the fabricated dentalaligner 130. In another example, in some embodiments, a suitable digitaldental aligner 310 may include a virtual 3D model of the fabricateddental aligner 130. For example, in some embodiments, the suitabledigital dental aligner 310 may be embodied as a three-dimensional (3D)representation (e.g., an STL file or the like) that describes thecontours and features (e.g., surface geometry and/or surfaceimperfections) of the fabricated dental aligner 130. Accordingly, insome embodiments, the imaging device 308 may include a camera or othersuitable imaging device to capture various views (e.g., 2D images) ofthe fabricated dental aligner 130. In some embodiments, the imagingsystem 305 may include any suitable scanning device or stereoscopicimaging device to capture digital scans (e.g., 3D scans) of thefabricated dental aligner 130. In other embodiments, the imaging device308 may include any combinations of one or more cameras and one or morescanning devices to generate a plurality of digital dental aligners 310corresponding to a fabricated dental aligner 130. For example, in someembodiments, the plurality of digital dental aligners 310 may includeboth 2D views of the fabricated dental aligner 130 and a virtual 3Dmodel of the fabricated dental aligner 130.

For example, in some embodiments, the imaging device 308 may include aplurality of fixed cameras arranged around a fixed platform configuredto hold the fabricated dental aligner 130 (e.g., while arranged on orremoved from the dental mold) at a particular orientation, such thateach of the fixed cameras captures a corresponding view of thefabricated dental aligner 130. In another example, the imaging device308 may include one or more fixed cameras, and the platform may rotateor otherwise change the orientation of the fabricated dental aligner 130such that the one or more fixed cameras can capture various views of thefabricated dental aligner 130. In still another example, the imagingdevice 308 may include one or more moveable cameras that rotate around afixed platform to capture various views of the fabricated dental aligner130. In yet another example, the imaging device 308 may include amoveable platform and at least one moveable camera that may each rotateor otherwise move with respect to the other to capture various views ofthe fabricated dental aligner 130. In some embodiments, the views of thefabricated dental aligner 130 may be captured by the imaging system 304after (or while) the contours and features of the fabricated dentalaligner 130 has been enhanced by the contour enhancing device 306. Forexample, in some embodiments, the various views of the fabricated dentalaligner 130 may be captured by the imaging device 308 while the contourenhancing device 306 is emitting light (or other suitable wave medium)onto the fabricated dental aligner 130, such that the contours andfeatures (e.g., surface imperfections) of the fabricated dental aligner130 are enhanced or otherwise shown in the captured views. In someembodiments, the views of the fabricated dental aligner 130 may includevarious views of the fabricated dental aligner 130 while the fabricateddental aligner 130 is still arranged on the dental mold.

In some embodiments, the views may include, for example, a top down viewwith a cavity of the fabricated dental aligner 130 facing up, such thatthe imaging device 308 can capture a view of the cavity of thefabricated dental aligner 130. The top down view may capture, forexample, the oblique lighting reflecting off of surface imperfections(e.g., cracks, holes, bubbles, areas of opacity, and/or the like) in thefabricated dental aligner 130. In some embodiments, the top down viewmay further provide a view of the corresponding dental arch associatedwith the fabricated dental aligner 130, a view of the teeth coverage ofthe dental aligner 130, a view of the edges (e.g., the cut edges) of thedental aligner 130, and/or the like. In some embodiments, the views mayinclude, for example, the labial regions of the fabricated dentalaligner 130. The labial region views may provide insights to various fitissues where the fabricated dental aligner 130 touches the patient'sgums to cause irritation to the gums. The labial region views may alsoprovide external front and side views of the cut edges of the dentalaligner 130. Similarly, in some embodiments, the views may include, forexample, the lingual regions of the fabricated dental aligner 130. Thelingual region views may provide insights to various fit issues wherethe fabricated dental aligner 130 can cause irritation to the patient'stongue. The lingual region views may also provide internal front andside views of the cut edges of the dental aligner 130. In someembodiments, the views may include front and side views of thefabricated dental aligner 130 while still arranged on the dental mold.Such views may be provide insights into a general fit of the dentalaligner 130 on the dental mold, such as a distance between the cavitysurface of the dental aligner and the exterior surfaces of the dentalmold (e.g., representing the teeth regions, gingiva regions, and/or thelike).

In another example, in some embodiments, the imaging device 308 mayinclude a scanning bed or other suitable scanning or stereoscopicimaging device. In this case, the imaging device 308 may generate avirtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner 130 embodied as athree-dimensional (3D) representation (e.g., an STL file or the like)that describes the surface geometries of the fabricated dental aligner130. For example, in some embodiments, the fabricated dental aligner 130may be scanned by the imaging device 308 after (or while) the contoursand features of the fabricated dental aligner 130 has been enhanced bythe contour enhancing device 306. For example, in some embodiments, thefabricated dental aligner 130 may be scanned by the imaging device 308after enhancing material (e.g., matted powder, starch powder, starchspray, food grade spray, and/or the like) has been applied on thefabricated dental aligner 130 by the contour enhancing device 306, suchthat the contours and features of the clear material of the fabricateddental aligner 130 are detected by the imaging device 308 to generatethe virtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner 130. However, thepresent disclosure is not limited thereto, and in other embodiments, theimaging device 308 may generate the virtual 3D model directly from thefabricated dental aligner 130, such that no enhancement of the contoursand features of the fabricated dental aligner 130 is required by thecontour enhancing device 306.

In some embodiments, the imaging device 308 may be configured togenerate or acquire various 2D views of the dental mold used to form thedental aligner 130. For example, in some embodiments, if the digitaldental aligners 310 include one or more 2D views of the fabricateddental aligner, the imaging device 308 may generate or acquire one ormore corresponding 2D views of the dental mold used to fabricate thedental aligner 130 for comparison. In other embodiments, the imagingdevice 308 may generate or acquire corresponding 2D views of thepatient's dentition from the dentition scans 108 or other model of thepatient's dentition. In some embodiments, the 2D views of the dentalmold may be acquired while the fabricated dental aligner 130 is stillpositioned on the dental mold. In other embodiments, the 2D views of thedental mold may be acquired after the fabricated dental aligner 130 isremoved from the dental mold. In some embodiments, the 2D views of thedental mold may include views with the fabricated dental aligner 130still positioned on the dental mold and views with the fabricated dentalaligner 130 removed from the dental mold. In various embodiments, theimaging device 308 may provide the corresponding digital dentition(e.g., corresponding 2D views of the dental mold or other model of thepatient's dentition) along with the corresponding 2D views of thefabricated dental aligner 130 in the digital dental aligners 310 to theimage analyzer 318, or may store the corresponding digital dentition(e.g., in a storage device) for later retrieval.

In some embodiments, the imaging system 304 provides the digital dentalaligners 310 to the quality analysis system 302 for further analysis.For example, in some embodiments, the quality analysis system 302 mayanalyze various 2D views and/or a virtual 3D model of the fabricateddental aligner 130, to determine whether there are any surfaceimperfections in the fabricated dental aligner 130. In some embodiments,the digital dental aligner 305 may be compared with a correspondingdigital cut line file used to generate the cut line for the fabricateddental aligner 130 to ensure that the fabricated dental aligner 130 wascut properly from the dental mold. In some embodiments, the qualityanalysis system 302 may compare the digital dental aligner 310 with adigital representation of the patient's dentition (e.g., the 2D views ora 3D model of the patient's dentition) to ensure that the fabricateddental aligner 130 fits and/or conforms properly to the patient'sdentition. For example, in some embodiments, the quality analysis system302 may compare 2D views of the fabricated dental aligner 130 withcorresponding 2D views of the dental mold used to form the fabricateddental aligner 130, with corresponding 2D views of another model (e.g.,the dentition scans 108) of the patient's dentition, and/or withcorresponding 2D direct views of the patient's dentition. In anotherexample, in some embodiments, the quality analysis system 302 maycompare a virtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner 130 with a3D model of the patient's dentition (e.g., the dentition scans 108 or ascan of the dental mold). In various embodiments, the quality analysissystem 302 may determine whether the dental aligner 130 was fabricatedproperly and/or cut correctly to fit comfortably in the patient's mouththrough computer vision and computer comparison between the fabricateddental aligner 130 and the patient's dentition.

In some embodiments, the quality analysis system 302 may be embodied asor includes a processing circuit 312 including a processor 314 (or oneor more processors) and memory 316. In some embodiments, the processor314 may be embodied as any suitable type of processor capable ofperforming the functions described herein. The processor 314 may beembodied as a single-core or multi-core processor(s), digital signalprocessor, microcontroller, or other processor or processing/controllingcircuit. The processor 314 can be a general purpose or specific purposeprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), one ormore field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), a group of processingcomponents, or other suitable processing components. The processor 314is configured to execute computer code or instructions stored in memoryor received from other computer readable media (e.g., CDROM, networkstorage, a remote server, etc.).

Memory 316 may be embodied as any suitable type of volatile ornon-volatile memory or data storage capable of performing the functionsdescribed herein. In operation, the memory 316 may store various dataand software used during operation of the quality control system 300,such as operating systems, applications, programs, libraries, anddrivers. In various embodiments, memory 316 can include one or moredevices (e.g., memory units, memory devices, storage devices, etc.) forstoring data and/or computer code for completing and/or facilitating thevarious processes described in the present disclosure. Memory 316 caninclude random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), hard drivestorage, temporary storage, non-volatile memory, flash memory, opticalmemory, or any other suitable memory for storing software objects and/orcomputer instructions. Memory 316 can include database components,object code components, script components, or any other type ofinformation structure for supporting the various activities andinformation structures described in the present disclosure. Memory 316may be communicably connected to the processor 314 via the processingcircuit 312, and may include computer code for executing (e.g., byprocessor 314) one or more processes described herein.

Still referring to FIG. 3, in an illustrative embodiment, memory 316includes a surface analyzer 318, a feature mapper 320, a comparator 322,and a dental mold analyzer 324. In other embodiments, memory 315 mayinclude more or less components than those shown in FIG. 3 depending onthe types of digital dentitions 310 (e.g., 2D views or 3D models) and/orfeatures of the fabricated dental aligner 130 being analyzed by thequality analysis system 302. In some embodiments, the surface analyzer318 receives the digital dental aligners 310 from the imaging system304, and analyzes the digital dental aligners 310 (e.g., 2D views orvirtual 3D model) to determine whether there are any surfaceimperfections or other abnormal or anomalous quality characteristics inthe digital dental aligners 310. For example, in some embodiments, anysurface imperfections in the digital dental aligners 310 may be enhancedby the contour enhancing device 306, such that the digital dentalaligners 310 represent the surface imperfections differently than otherparts of the corresponding fabricated dental aligner 130.

For example, in some embodiments, the surface analyzer 318 may beconfigured to identify a surface imperfection in the fabricated dentalaligner 130 from the digital dental aligner 310 based on an expectedspectrum or luminance of light transmitted through (or by) thefabricated dental aligner 130, such that any portion of the fabricateddental aligner 130 that transmits light outside an expected range (e.g.,a threshold range) of the expected spectrum or luminance may bedetermined to be a portion (or area) of the fabricated dental aligner130 having a surface imperfection (e.g., hole, crack, bubble,discoloration, areas of opacity, or the like). For example, in someembodiments, if the fabricated dental aligner 130 transmits disparateportions of light outside the expected range, this may indicate a crack,hole, or bubble in those disparate portions. In another example, in someembodiments, if a majority (or a large continuous portion) of thefabricated dental aligner 130 transmits light that is outside the range,this may indicate clarity issues or discoloration of the fabricateddental aligner 130. However, the present disclosure is not limitedthereto, and in other embodiments, the surface imperfections may bedetected in the fabricated dental aligner 130 from other wave mediums(e.g., RF waves, acoustic waves, X-ray waves, and/or the like)reflecting or transmitting differently off the surface imperfections, orfrom a mapping of the contours and features of the fabricated dentalaligner 130 captured directly by the imaging device 308 (e.g., withoutthe contours and features being enhanced by the contour enhancing device306).

In some embodiments, the surface analyzer 318 may learn (e.g., usingmachine learning or data mining) to identify the surface imperfectionsin the digital dental aligners 310. For example, in some embodiments,the surface analyzer 318 may be provided with training data includingexamples of dental aligners with surface imperfections and examples ofdental aligners without (or with minimal) surface imperfections, suchthat the surface analyzer 318 can learn from the training data toidentify the surface imperfections in the digital dental aligners 310.In some embodiments, the training data may include examples with thesurface imperfections enhanced (e.g., via the contour enhancing device306) and/or with the surface imperfections not enhanced, such that thesurface analyzer 318 may learn to detect the surface imperfections withand/or without the surface imperfections being enhanced. In someembodiments, the surface analyzer 318 may utilize various suitablemachine learning methodologies (e.g., classification, regression,clustering, and/or the like) to distinguish between surfaceimperfections and other contours and features of a fabricated dentalaligner.

In some embodiments, the feature mapper 320 identifies and maps variousshapes and geometries of the fabricated dental aligner 130 shown in thecorresponding digital dental aligner 310. For example, in someembodiments, the feature mapper 320 may include a suitable objectdetection or edge detection algorithm to identify and map the shapes andgeometries of the fabricated dental aligner 130 shown in one or more 2Dviews of the corresponding digital dental aligner 310. In someembodiments, the shapes and geometries may include, for example, edges(e.g., cut edges) where the fabricated dental aligner 130 was cut fromthe dental mold as shown in the one or more 2D views, various outlinesor shapes (e.g., creases, gaps, identifiable tooth portion shapes,identifiable gingival line portion shapes, and/or the like) shown in theone or more 2D views, dimensions (e.g., height, width, length) of thefabricated dental aligner 130 shown in the one or more 2D views,thickness of the thermoformed material at the edges shown in the one ormore 2D views, and/or the like. In some embodiments, if the 2D viewsinclude views of the dental aligner 130 while still arranged on thedental mold, the feature mapper 320 may measure and map distancesbetween the inner surface of the dental aligner and an outer surface ofthe dental mold as shown through the clear dental aligner material. Insome embodiments, the feature mapper 320 may similarly map variousshapes and geometries of the patient's dentition shown in thecorresponding 2D views of the digital dentitions.

In another example, in some embodiments, the feature mapper 320 mayidentify and map various shapes and geometries of the fabricated dentalaligner 130 shown in a virtual 3D model of the fabricated dentalaligner. For example, in some embodiments, the feature mapper 320 mayidentify and map teeth portions in the virtual 3D model of thefabricated dental aligner 130, and may identify and map a gingival lineor gingival line portions in the virtual 3D model of the fabricateddental aligner 130. In some embodiments, the feature mapper 320 mayidentify the teeth portions in the virtual 3D model of the fabricateddental aligner 130 using a suitable identification algorithm. Forexample, in some embodiments, the feature mapper 320 may identifyvarious characteristics within the virtual 3D model of the fabricateddental aligner 130 that are consistent with teeth, such as surfacecontours of crowns, separation or gaps in the interproximal region(e.g., the space between teeth), and/or the like, such that the teethportions within the virtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner130 can be identified, and the remaining portions which are notidentified as the teeth portions may be identified as gingiva portions.

In some embodiments, the feature mapper 320 may identify and map thegingival line or gingival line portions from the virtual 3D model of thefabricated dental aligner 130. For example, in some embodiments, thefeature mapper 320 may be configured to identify the gingival line orgingival line portions by identifying a location where the teethportions and gingiva portions meet. As described above, the featuremapper 320 may be configured to identify a location of the teethportions within the virtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner130, and may identify the location of the gingiva portions based on theportions that are not identified as the teeth portions. Similarly, thefeature mapper 320 may identify and map the gingival line or gingivalline portions in each of the digital representations based on where theportions identified as the teeth portions meet the portions identifiedas the gingiva portions. In some embodiments, the feature mapper 320 maymap edges of the virtual 3D model where the dental aligner was cut fromthe dental mold. In some embodiments, the feature mapper 320 maygenerate a point cloud for the virtual 3D model of the fabricated dentalaligner 130. The point cloud may describe the surface features and/oredges of the virtual 3D model as a set of surface points. In someembodiments, the point cloud may describe all of the surface pointsidentified by the feature mapper 320, or may describe key points (e.g.,key teeth, key locations on the gingival line, back portions of themolar regions, key locations along the edges, and/or the like). In someembodiments, the feature mapper 320 may similarly map the teethportions, gingival line portions, and/or point cloud in thecorresponding 3D model of the patient's dentition.

In some embodiments, the feature mapper 320 may map a digital cut linefor the digital dental aligners 310. For example, in some embodiments,the feature mapper 320 may identify a digital cut line filecorresponding to the fabricated dental aligner 130. In some embodiments,the feature mapper 320 may map the cut line (or a portion of the cutline) corresponding to the digital cut line file of the digital dentalaligner 310. For example, in some embodiments, the feature mapper 320may add and map a portion of the cut line in each of the 2D views of thefabricated dental aligner 130. In another example, in some embodiments,the feature mapper 320 may add and map the cut line in the virtual 3Dmodel of the fabricated dental aligner 130. In some embodiments, thefeature mapper 320 may similarly add and map the cut line or portions ofthe cut line in the digital dentition. However, the present disclosureis not limited thereto, and in other embodiments, the feature mapper 320may not add or map the digital cut line on the digital dental aligner310 or the digital dentition, and the digital cut line file used to cutthe fabricated dental aligner 130 from the dental mold may be compareddirectly with the mapped edges in the digital dental aligner 310.

In some embodiments, the comparator 322 may analyze the mappings orother quality characteristics of the digital dental aligner 310 todetermine whether the corresponding fabricated dental aligner was formedproperly to fit the patient's corresponding dental arch. In someembodiments, the comparator 322 may compare the digital dental aligner310 with the digital dentition (e.g., 2D views or 3D modelrepresentation of the patient's dentition). For example, in someembodiments, the comparator 322 may compare various qualitycharacteristics of the fabricated dental aligner 130 with those of thepatient's dentition, such as the shapes and geometries mapped in each ofthe 2D views of the fabricated dental aligner 130 with the shapes andgeometries mapped in the corresponding 2D views of the dental mold orother model of the patient's dentition to determine whether the shapesand geometries of the fabricated dental aligner 130 matches the shapesand geometries of the patient's dentition. For example, in someembodiments, the comparator 322 may overlay a top down view of thefabricated dental aligner 130 with a corresponding view of the dentalmold, such that a shape of the arch of the fabricated dental aligner 130can be compared with a shape of the corresponding arch of the patient'sdentition. The top down view comparison may also indicate whether thefabricated dental aligner 130 properly covers all the teeth of thecorresponding arch of the patient's dentition. In another example, insome embodiments, the comparator 322 may similarly overlay a side viewof the fabricated dental aligner 130 with a corresponding view of thedental mold, such that the shapes and geometries shown in the side viewscan be compared. In some embodiments, the comparator may overlay thecorresponding views using a best fit algorithm such that the mappedshapes, outlines, edges, cut line, and/or the like are aligned orsubstantially aligned. In some embodiments, the comparator may comparethe mapped distance between the inner surface of the dental aligner andthe exterior surface of the dental mold with a threshold value or rangeto determine whether the mapped distance is within tolerance. In someembodiments, if the mapped distance is within tolerance, the fabricateddental aligner 130 may be determined to properly fit the patient'sdentition.

In another example, in some embodiments, the comparator 322 may overlaya virtual 3D model of the dental aligner 130 on a corresponding 3D modelof the patient's dentition, such that the shapes and geometries of thefabricated dental aligner 130 can be compared with the shapes andgeometries of the patient's dentition. For example, in some embodiments,the comparator 322 may identify one or more common points (or othercommon locations) in each of the virtual 3D model of the dental aligner130 and the 3D model of the patient's dentition, and may align thegeometries of each of the models based on the one or more common points.In some embodiments, after aligning the one or more common points, thevirtual 3D model of the dental aligner 130 may still be separated fromthe 3D model of the patient's dentition by a distance due todifficulties with perfectly overlaying two virtual surfaces with zeroseparation between them. In some embodiments, the comparator 322 maydetermine whether the distance between the overlaid virtual 3D model ofthe dental aligner 130 and the 3D model the patient's dentition iswithin tolerance. For example, in some embodiments, the comparator 322may calculate a root mean square (RMS) value (or values) between thepoint clouds of the virtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner130 and the 3D model of the patient's dentition. In some embodiments,the RMS value may be calculated from each point in the point clouds, orfrom key points (e.g., key teeth, key locations, and/or the like) in thepoint clouds. In some embodiments, the comparator 322 may compare thecalculated RMS value with a threshold value (or range) to determinewhether the RMS value is within tolerance. In some embodiments, an RMSvalue that is within tolerance may indicate that the shapes andgeometries of the 3D models correspond to each other (e.g., are thesame).

In some embodiments, the comparator 322 may compare a thickness of thedental aligner 130 with a corresponding thickness threshold value orrange. In some embodiments, the thickness of the dental aligner 130 maydetermine whether the fabricated dental aligner 130 is suitable to applya force on the teeth to move the teeth to a desired position (e.g.,based on the treatment plan). For example, if the dental aligner 130 istoo thin (or has thin portions), the dental aligner 130 may not be ableto generate enough force on the teeth to move the teeth to the desiredposition or the dental aligner may be more likely to break or wear outearlier than intended. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the comparator322 may determine whether the thickness of the dental aligner 130 iswithin tolerance for a given thermoformed material and/or stage of thetreatment plan.

In some embodiments, the comparator 322 may compare the digital dentalaligner 310 with the digital cutline file. For example, in someembodiments, if the feature mapper 320 maps the digital cut line in the2D views and/or the virtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner130, then the comparator 322 may compare the mapped edges of thefabricated dental aligner 310 shown in the digital dental aligner 310with the mapped digital cut line. For example, in some embodiments, thecomparator 322 may calculate a distance between one or more points alongthe mapped edge and one or more corresponding points along the mappedcut line to determine if the distance is within tolerance (e.g., withina threshold value or range). If the distance is within tolerance, thismay indicate that the fabricated dental aligner 130 was cut properly. Insome embodiments, a preferred tolerance range may be, for example,one-quarter millimeter to one-half millimeter, but the present inventionis not limited thereto.

In another example, in some embodiments, the comparator 322 may comparethe digital dental aligner 310 directly with the digital cut line fileused to form the fabricated dental aligner 130. For example, in someembodiments, the comparator 322 may compare the mapped edges in each 2Dview of the fabricated dental aligner 130 with the corresponding cutline file to determine whether the mapped edges correspond to the cutline in the digital cut line file. For example, in some embodiments, thecomparator 322 may calculate a distance between one or more points alongthe mapped edge and one or more corresponding points along the cut lineto determine if the distance is within tolerance (e.g., within athreshold value or range). If the distance is within tolerance, this mayindicate that the fabricated dental aligner 130 was cut properly. Inanother example, in some embodiments, the comparator 322 may compare themapped edges in the virtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner130 with the digital cut line file. For example, in some embodiments,the comparator 322 may overlay the virtual 3D model of the fabricateddental aligner 130 with the cut line in the digital cut line file byaligning a common point (or common location) in each of the virtual 3Dmodel and the cut line, and calculating a distance between the mappededge and the cut line. For example, in some embodiments, the comparator322 may calculate an RMS value between points along the mapped edges inthe virtual 3D model and corresponding points along the digital cut lineto determine whether the RMS value is within threshold (e.g., athreshold value or range). If the RMS value is within tolerance, thismay indicate that the fabricated dental aligner 130 was cut properly.

In various embodiments, if the surface analyzer 318 and/or thecomparator 322 determines that the fabricated dental aligner 130includes any anomalous portions (e.g., surface imperfections, areas thatdo not correspond to the shapes and geometries of the patient'sdentition, and/or areas of the mapped edges that do not correspond tothe digital cut line file), then the fabricated dental aligner 130 maybe flagged indicating that the fabricated dental aligner 130 is rejectedor is a potential reject. In some embodiments, the quality analysissystem 302 may provide a graphical user interface to a dental technician(or other professional) to review any potential rejects to determinewhether the identified anomalous portion warrants rejection of thecorresponding fabricated dental aligner 130. In some embodiments, thequality analysis system 302 may highlight the identified anomalousportions in a view of the digital dental aligner in the graphical userinterface, such that the anomalous portions can be quickly identifiedfrom the view. In some embodiments, any flagged dental aligner 130 maycause the fabrication computing system 102 to fabricate a replacementdental aligner 130 for the corresponding patient.

In some embodiments, the dental mold analyzer 324 may analyze variousviews of the dental mold used to fabricate the dental aligner 130. Forexample, in some embodiments, the dental mold analyzer 324 may analyzethe various views to determine whether the dental mold has any issues(e.g., breaches, cracks or holes in the wall, burns or abrasions, and/orthe like). For example, in some embodiments, the dental mold may includea powder packet (e.g., a nylon powder) that may indicate when the cut istoo deep or otherwise at an incorrect location. For example, in someembodiments the powder may be of a different contrasting color than thefabricated dental aligner 130, such that when a breach occurs, thepowder may be detected in the various views of the dental mold. In someembodiments, the views of the dental mold may be analyzed to determinewhether any anomalous portions identified in the fabricated dentalaligner 130 was caused by the dental mold in response to the fabricateddental aligner 130 being flagged as a reject or potential reject. Insome embodiments, the views of the dental mold may be analyzed todetermine whether the dental mold can be used to form subsequent dentalaligners for the patient in response to the fabricated dental aligner130 passing inspection.

In some embodiments, the dental mold analyzer 324 may determine whethera breach occurred during cutting of the fabricated dental aligner 130from the dental mold. For example, in some embodiments, the dental moldanalyzer 324 may receive particulate detection data from the cuttingsystem 106, and may analyze the particulate detection data to determinewhether the powder material of the powder packet was detected. Forexample, in some embodiments, the powder material in the powder packetmay be much smaller (e.g., 70 microns) than waste material generatedfrom cutting the fabricated dental aligner. In this case, the breachedpowder material may be detected based on the size of the particulates inthe particulate data.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a method for analyzing quality of fabricateddental aligners, according to some embodiments. The functionalities ofthe method 400 may be implemented using, or performed by, the componentsdetailed herein in connection with FIGS. 1 and 3. In brief overview, themethod 400 of FIG. 4 may be used, for example, to determine whether afabricated intraoral device, such as the dental aligner 130 shown inFIG. 2, was manufactured properly without surface imperfections.

Referring to FIG. 4, at operation 405, a dental aligner fabricated for apatient's dental arch is received. In various embodiments, the dentalaligner may be fabricated by the system 100 shown in FIG. 1, or by anysuitable intraoral device fabrication systems or methods. In someembodiments, the fabricated dental aligner may be received after it hasbeen removed from a dental mold. In some embodiments, the fabricateddental aligner may be received while it is still arranged on the dentalmold.

At operation 410, a digital dental aligner is generated from thefabricated dental aligner. In some embodiments, the digital dentalaligner may include one or more 2D views of the fabricated dentalaligner. In some embodiments, the one or more 2D views may include viewsof the fabricated dental aligner while still arranged on the dental moldand/or views of the fabricated dental aligner removed from the dentalmold. In some embodiments, the digital dental aligner may include avirtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner. For example, in someembodiments, the imaging system 304 may generate a virtual 3D model ofthe fabricated dental aligner by scanning the fabricated dental alignerusing the imaging device 308 (e.g., a suitable scanning device orstereoscopic imaging device).

In some embodiments, the fabricated dental aligner may be a clear dentalaligner, such that the contours and features of the fabricated dentalaligner may not be easily detected by the imaging device 308. In someembodiments, the contours and features of the fabricated dental alignermay be enhanced (e.g., by the contour enhancing device 306), such thatthe imaging device 208 can generate a suitable digital dental alignerfor further analysis. A suitable digital dental aligner is a digitalrepresentation (e.g., 2D image, 3D model, or the like) of the fabricateddental aligner that sufficiently shows and/or describes the contours andfeatures of the fabricated dental aligner to enable identification ofthe contours and features. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the imagingsystem 304 may enhance the contours and features of the fabricateddental aligner such that the contours and features of the fabricateddental aligner can be captured by the imaging device 308. For example,in various embodiments, the contour enhancing device 306 may applylight, radio waves, acoustic waves, x-rays, thermal radiance, enhancingmaterial, and/or the like to a surface of the fabricated dental aligner,such that various contours and features of the clear material of thefabricated dental aligner is enhanced to enable the imaging device 108to capture the enhanced contours and features.

At operation 415, the digital dental aligner is analyzed to identify anysurface imperfections in the fabricated dental aligner. For example, insome embodiments, the imaging system 304 may provide the digital dentalaligner to the quality analysis system 302 for analysis. In someembodiments, the surface analyzer 318 may analyze the digital dentalaligner to identify any surface imperfections in the fabricated dentalaligner. For example, in some embodiments, the surface analyzer 318 maybe configured to identify the surface imperfections from the enhancedcontours and features shown in the digital dental aligner. For example,in some embodiments, the surface analyzer 318 may detect anomalousportions (e.g., surface imperfections) where light is transmitteddifferently at the anomalous portions than other portions of thefabricated dental aligner.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method for analyzing the quality offabricated dental aligners, according to some embodiments. Thefunctionalities of the method 500 may be implemented using, or performedby, the components detailed herein in connection with FIGS. 1 and 3. Inbrief overview, the method 500 of FIG. 5 may be used, for example, todetermine whether a fabricated intraoral device, such as the dentalaligner 130 shown in FIG. 2, was properly manufactured to move thepatient's teeth as intended by the treatment plan.

Referring to FIG. 5, at operation 505, a digital dental alignercorresponding to a dental aligner fabricated for a patient's dental archis received. In various embodiments, the dental aligner may befabricated by the system 100 shown in FIG. 1, or by any suitableintraoral device fabrication systems or methods. In some embodiments,the digital dental aligner may include one or more views (e.g., 2Dviews) of the fabricated dental aligner. In some embodiments, thedigital dental aligner may include a virtual 3D model of the fabricateddental aligner. For example, in some embodiments, the fabricated dentalaligner may be photographed, scanned, and/or the like by the imagingsystem 304 such that the digital dental aligner is generated by andreceived from the imaging system 304. In some embodiments, the contoursand features of the fabricated dental aligner may be enhanced (e.g., bythe contour enhancing device 306), such that the contours and features(e.g., surface imperfections, shapes, geometries, edges, and or thelike) of the fabricated dental aligner are enhanced or otherwise shownin the corresponding digital dental aligner.

At operation 510, a corresponding digital dentition of the patient'sdental arch is identified. In some embodiments, the digital dentitionmay corresponding to a digital representation (e.g., one or more 2Dviews, a 3D model, or the like) of the patient's dental archcorresponding to the fabricated dental aligner. For example, in someembodiments, the digital dentition may include one or more views (e.g.,2D views) of the dental mold used to form the fabricated dental aligner.In other embodiments, the digital dentition may include one or moreviews (e.g., 2D views) of another model representing the patient'sdental arch (e.g., views of the dental scans 108 or of a physical dentalimpression). In another example, in some embodiments, the digitaldentition may include a 3D model (e.g., the dentition scans 108 or ascan of the dental mold) of the patient's dental arch. In variousembodiments, the digital dentition may be generated and received fromthe imaging device 308, or may be retrieved from storage (e.g., astorage device).

At operation 515, the digital dental aligner is compared with thedigital dentition. For example, in some embodiments, the contours andfeatures of the fabricated dental aligner identified in the digitaldental aligner are compared with the contours and features of thecorresponding digital dentition of the patient's dental arch. In someembodiments, the digital dental aligner may be overlaid with the digitaldentition to compare the contours and features of the digital dentalaligner with the contours and features of the digital dentition. In someembodiments, the digital dental aligner may be compared with a digitalcut line file used to cut the fabricated dental aligner from the dentalmold.

Accordingly, at operation 520, any anomalous portions between thecomparison of the digital dental aligner and the corresponding digitaldentition are identified. For example, in some embodiments, an anomalousportion may correspond to a portion where a shape, geometry, or surfacefeature of the fabricated dental aligner does not correspond to (e.g.,overlap with, line up with, or the like) a shape, geometry, or surfacefeature of the patient's corresponding dentition. In this case, theidentified anomalous portion may indicate that the fabricated dentalaligner may include surface imperfections, may not match the patient'sdentition properly, may not have been cut properly, and/or the like, andthus, may not fit comfortably in the patient's mouth or be configured tomove the patient's teeth as intended by the treatment plan. Accordingly,in some embodiments, in response to identifying any anomalous portionsat operation 520 (e.g., YES), the corresponding fabricated dentalaligner may be flagged as a reject or potential reject at operation 525.In some embodiments, any flagged dental aligners may be provided to adental technician (or other professional) for further review. In someembodiments, any flagged dental aligner 130 may cause the fabricationcomputing system 102 to fabricate a replacement dental aligner 130 forthe corresponding patient. On the other hand, in some embodiments, inresponse to determining that there are no anomalous portions from thecomparison at operation 520 (e.g., NO), the corresponding fabricateddental aligner may be approved for shipping to the patient at operation530.

FIG. 6 is flow diagram of a method for analyzing the quality offabricated dental aligners, according to some embodiments. Thefunctionalities of the method 600 may be implemented using, or performedby, the components detailed herein in connection with FIGS. 1 and 3. Inbrief overview, the method 600 of FIG. 6 may be used in connection withthe method 500 of FIG. 5, for example, to determine whether a fabricatedintraoral device, such as the dental aligner 130 shown in FIG. 2, wasfabricated properly to be worn comfortably in the patient's mouth and tomove the patient's teeth as intended by the treatment plan. For example,in some embodiments, the method 600 may include operations 620, 625,630, 655, 660, and 665 corresponding to the operation 510 of FIG. 5, andoperations 635, 640, 645, 670, 675, 680, and 685 corresponding tooperation 515 of FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 6, in response to receiving a digital dental aligner,a format of the received digital dental aligner is determined atoperation 605. In some embodiments, for example, at operation 605, thesurface analyzer 318 (or the feature mapper 320) may determine whetherthe digital representations of the fabricated dental aligner include oneor more 2D views (e.g., 2D images) of various views of the fabricateddental aligner, and/or a virtual 3D model of the fabricated dentalaligner. In some embodiments, if the digital representations of thefabricated dental aligner includes one or more 2D views of thefabricated dental aligner at operation 605, then a view of each of the2D images of the fabricated dental aligner is identified at operation610, and any identifiable shapes, outlines, and edges of the dentalaligner in each of the 2D views are mapped at operation 615. In someembodiments, if the digital representations of the fabricated dentalaligner include a virtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner atoperation 605, then the surface features, contours, teeth, gingivalline, and edges of the fabricated dental aligner shown in the virtual 3Dmodel are mapped at operation 650. For example, in some embodiments, thefeature mapper 318 may map the shapes, outlines, and edges shown in eachof the 2D views of the fabricated dental aligner at operation 615, orthe feature mapper 318 may map the surface features, contours, teeth,gingival line, and edges shown in the virtual 3D model of the fabricateddental aligner at operation 650.

In some embodiments, a corresponding digital dentition of the patient'sdental arch is identified. For example, in some embodiments, if thedigital dental aligner includes the 2D views of the fabricated dentalaligner, corresponding views of the patient's dental arch are retrievedat operation 620. For example, in some embodiments, the imaging system304 may capture various 2D views of the dental mold used to fabricatethe dental aligner, and may provide the views of the dental mold to thequality analysis system 302 for further analysis. In some embodiments,each view of the dental mold may correspond to a view of the fabricateddental aligner, such that the views can be compared. In someembodiments, the identifiable shapes and outlines in each of the 2Dviews of the dental mold are mapped at operation 630, such that theshapes and outlines of the dental mold shown in the 2D views of thedental mold can be compared with the shapes and outlines of thefabricated dental aligner shown in the 2D views of the fabricated dentalaligner. For example, in some embodiments, the feature mapper 320 mayidentify and map the shapes and geometries of the fabricated dentalaligner 130 shown in one or more 2D views of the corresponding digitaldental aligner 310. For example, the shapes and geometries may include,various outlines or shapes (e.g., creases, gaps, identifiable toothportion shapes, identifiable gingival line portion shapes, and/or thelike) in the one or more 2D views, dimensions (e.g., height, width,length) of the fabricated dental aligner 130 in the one or more 2Dviews, thickness of the thermoformed material at edges in the one ormore 2D views, and/or the like.

In some embodiments, a corresponding digital cut line file is retrievedat operation 625. For example, in some embodiments, the correspondingdigital cut line file may be the cut line file used to cut thefabricated dental aligner from the dental mold. In some embodiments, acorresponding portion of the cut line may be mapped in each of the 2Dviews of the dental mold at operation 625. For example, in someembodiments, the feature mapper 320 may map or add a correspondingportion of the cut line in each of the 2D views of the dental mold thatshows a portion of the edges of the fabricated dental aligner, such thatthe edges shown in the 2D views of the fabricated dental aligner can becompared with a corresponding portion of the cut line shown in the 2Dviews of the dental mold. However, the present disclosure is not limitedthereto, and in other embodiments, each of the 2D views of the dentalaligner may be compared directly with the digital cut line file todetermine whether the fabricated dental aligner was cut properly fromthe dental mold.

In another example, in the case that the digital dental aligner includesthe virtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner, a corresponding3D model of the patient's dental arch is retrieved at operation 655. Forexample, in some embodiments, the 3D model of the patient's dental archmay correspond to a digital scan of the patient's dental impression(e.g., the dentition scans 108), or the imaging system 304 may scan thedental mold used to fabricate the dental aligner to generate a 3D modelof the dental mold. For example, in some embodiments, the 3D model ofthe patient's dental arch may be embodied as a three-dimensional (3D)representation (e.g., an STL file or the like) that describes thecontours and features (e.g., surface features, contours, teeth portions,a gingival line, and/or the like) of the patient's dental arch. In someembodiments, the surface features, contours, teeth, and gingival lineshown in the 3D model of the patient's dental arch are mapped atoperation 660, such that the surface contours and features of thevirtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner can be compared withthe surface contours and features of the patient's dental arch as shownin the 3D model of the patient's dental arch. For example, the featuremapper 320 may identify and map teeth portions in the virtual 3D modelof the fabricated dental aligner 130, and may identify and map agingival line or gingival line portions in the virtual 3D model of thefabricated dental aligner 130.

In some embodiments, a corresponding digital cut line file is retrievedat operation 665. For example, in some embodiments, the correspondingdigital cut line file may be the cut line file used to cut thefabricated dental aligner from the dental mold. In some embodiments, thecorresponding digital cut line file may be retrieved at operation 665,such that the virtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner may bedirectly compared with a digital cut line in the corresponding digitalcutline file. For example, in some embodiments, the feature mapper 320or the comparator 322 may retrieve the digital cut line file from astorage device (e.g., a data store or data base) or may receive thedigital cut line file from the model analyzer 118 to compare the virtual3D model of the fabricated dental aligner with the digital cut linefile. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and inother embodiments, a digital cutline corresponding to the digital cutline file may be mapped or added to the 3D model of the patient's dentalarch (e.g., via the feature mapper 320) for comparison with the edgesmapped in the virtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner.

In some embodiments, if the digital dental aligner includes the 2D viewsof the fabricated dental aligner, such that corresponding views of thepatient's dental arch are retrieved and mapped at operation 630 (e.g.,via the feature mapper 320), each of the views of the fabricated dentalaligner may be compared with corresponding views of the patient's dentalarch. For example, in some embodiments, at operation 635, the comparator322 may overlay corresponding views of the fabricated dental aligner andthe patient's dental arch such that the shapes and outlines in the viewsalign. In some embodiments, at operation 640, the shapes and outlines ineach of the overlaid views are compared. In some embodiments, atoperation 645, the mapped edges in the views of the fabricated dentalaligner are compared with the mapped digital cut line in the views ofthe patient's dental arch. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the method600 of FIG. 6 continues at operation 520 of FIG. 5, for example, todetermine whether the comparisons result in the identification of anyanomalous portions in the views of the fabricated dental aligner.

As another example, in the case that the digital dental aligner includesa virtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner, such that acorresponding 3D model of the patient's dental arch is retrieved andmapped at operation 660 (e.g., via the feature mapper 320), the virtual3D model of the fabricated dental aligner may be compared with the 3Dmodel of the patient's dental arch. For example, in some embodiments, atoperation 670, the comparator 322 may overlay the models such that oneor more common points on each of the models are aligned. In someembodiments, at operation 675, a tolerance between the models isdetermined. For example, in some embodiments, the comparator 322 maycalculate an RMS value between the models, and may determine whether theRMS value is within a threshold range (or value). In some embodiments,at operation 680, the comparator 322 may overlay the virtual 3D model ofthe fabricated dental aligner with the digital cut line of the digitalcut line file. For example, in some embodiments, the comparator 322 mayoverlay the virtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner with thedigital cut line such that one or more common points on each of the cutlines and mapped edges are aligned. In some embodiments, at operation685, a tolerance between the digital cut line and the mapped edges ofthe virtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner is determined. Forexample, in some embodiments, the comparator 322 may calculate adistance between the digital cut line and the edges to determine if thedistance is within a threshold range (or value). In some embodiments,the comparator 322 may calculate an RMS value between the mapped edgesin the virtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner and the digitalcut line, and may determine if the RMS value is within a threshold range(or value). Accordingly, in some embodiments, the method 600 of FIG. 6continues at operation 520 of FIG. 5, for example, to determine whetherthe comparisons result in the identification of any anomalous portionsin the virtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner.

As utilized herein, the terms “approximately,” “about,” “substantially,”and similar terms are intended to have a broad meaning in harmony withthe common and accepted usage by those of ordinary skill in the art towhich the subject matter of this disclosure pertains. It should beunderstood by those of skill in the art who review this disclosure thatthese terms are intended to allow a description of certain featuresdescribed and claimed without restricting the scope of these features tothe precise numerical ranges provided. Accordingly, these terms shouldbe interpreted as indicating that insubstantial or inconsequentialmodifications or alterations of the subject matter described and claimedare considered to be within the scope of the disclosure as recited inthe appended claims.

It should be noted that the term “exemplary” and variations thereof, asused herein to describe various embodiments, are intended to indicatethat such embodiments are possible examples, representations, orillustrations of possible embodiments (and such terms are not intendedto connote that such embodiments are necessarily extraordinary orsuperlative examples).

The term “coupled” and variations thereof, as used herein, means thejoining of two members directly or indirectly to one another. Suchjoining may be stationary (e.g., permanent or fixed) or moveable (e.g.,removable or releasable). Such joining may be achieved with the twomembers coupled directly to each other, with the two members coupled toeach other using a separate intervening member and any additionalintermediate members coupled with one another, or with the two memberscoupled to each other using an intervening member that is integrallyformed as a single unitary body with one of the two members. If“coupled” or variations thereof are modified by an additional term(e.g., directly coupled), the generic definition of “coupled” providedabove is modified by the plain language meaning of the additional term(e.g., “directly coupled” means the joining of two members without anyseparate intervening member), resulting in a narrower definition thanthe generic definition of “coupled” provided above. Such coupling may bemechanical, electrical, or fluidic.

The term “or,” as used herein, is used in its inclusive sense (and notin its exclusive sense) so that when used to connect a list of elements,the term “or” means one, some, or all of the elements in the list.Conjunctive language such as the phrase “at least one of X, Y, and Z,”unless specifically stated otherwise, is understood to convey that anelement may be X, Y, or Z; X and Y; X and Z; Y and Z; or X, Y, and Z(i.e., any combination of X, Y, and Z). Thus, such conjunctive languageis not generally intended to imply that certain embodiments require atleast one of X, at least one of Y, and at least one of Z to each bepresent, unless otherwise indicated.

References herein to the positions of elements (e.g., “top,” “bottom,”“above,” “below”) are merely used to describe the orientation of variouselements in the figures. It should be noted that the orientation ofvarious elements may differ according to other exemplary embodiments,and that such variations are intended to be encompassed by the presentdisclosure.

The hardware and data processing components used to implement thevarious processes, operations, illustrative logics, logical blocks,modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodimentsdisclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purposesingle- or multi-chip processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmablegate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate ortransistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A generalpurpose processor may be a microprocessor, or any conventionalprocessor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processoralso may be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as acombination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality ofmicroprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSPcore, or any other such configuration. In some embodiments, particularprocesses and methods may be performed by circuitry that is specific toa given function. The memory (e.g., memory, memory unit, storage device)may include one or more devices (e.g., RAM, ROM, flash memory, hard diskstorage) for storing data and/or computer code for completing orfacilitating the various processes, layers and circuits described in thepresent disclosure. The memory may be or include volatile memory ornon-volatile memory, and may include database components, object codecomponents, script components, or any other type of informationstructure for supporting the various activities and informationstructures described in the present disclosure. According to anexemplary embodiment, the memory is communicably connected to theprocessor via a processing circuit and includes computer code forexecuting (e.g., by the processing circuit or the processor) the one ormore processes described herein.

The present disclosure contemplates methods, systems, and programproducts on any machine-readable media for accomplishing variousoperations. The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implementedusing existing computer processors, or by a special purpose computerprocessor for an appropriate system, incorporated for this or anotherpurpose, or by a hardwired system. Embodiments within the scope of thepresent disclosure include program products comprising machine-readablemedia for carrying or having machine-executable instructions or datastructures stored thereon. Such machine-readable media can be anyavailable media that can be accessed by a general purpose or specialpurpose computer or other machine with a processor. By way of example,such machine-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, orother optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magneticstorage devices, or any other medium which can be used to carry or storedesired program code in the form of machine-executable instructions ordata structures and which can be accessed by a general purpose orspecial purpose computer or other machine with a processor. Combinationsof the above are also included within the scope of machine-readablemedia. Machine-executable instructions include, for example,instructions and data which cause a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or special purpose processing machines to perform acertain function or group of functions.

Although the figures and description may illustrate a specific order ofmethod steps, the order of such steps may differ from what is depictedand described, unless specified differently above. Also, two or moresteps may be performed concurrently or with partial concurrence, unlessspecified differently above. Such variation may depend, for example, onthe software and hardware systems chosen and on designer choice. Allsuch variations are within the scope of the disclosure. Likewise,software implementations of the described methods could be accomplishedwith standard programming techniques with rule-based logic and otherlogic to accomplish the various connection steps, processing steps,comparison steps, and decision steps.

It is important to note that the construction and arrangement of thesystems and methods shown in the various exemplary embodiments areillustrative only. Additionally, any element disclosed in one embodimentmay be incorporated or utilized with any other embodiment disclosedherein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for analyzing a quality of a dentalaligner, the method comprising: receiving, by a processor, a digitaldental aligner generated based on a fabricated dental aligner, whereinthe digital dental aligner is a point cloud of a virtualthree-dimensional (3D) model of the fabricated dental aligner;analyzing, by the processor, the digital dental aligner to identify aquality characteristic of the fabricated dental aligner by comparing thevirtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner with a point cloud ofa 3D model of a dental arch of a corresponding patient, wherein thecomparison comprises: identifying, by the processor, one or more commonpoints on the point clouds of the 3D models; aligning, by the processor,the virtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner and the 3D modelof the dental arch of the corresponding patient based on the one or morecommon points; calculating, by the processor, a distance between the oneor more common points when the virtual 3D model of the fabricated dentalaligner and the 3D model of the dental arch of the corresponding patientare aligned; and comparing, by the processor, the distance with athreshold; and flagging, by the processor, the fabricated dental alignerbased on the identified quality characteristic, wherein the identifiedquality characteristic is based on the comparison of the distance withthe threshold.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: comparing,by the processor, the digital dental aligner with a cut line file usedto cut the fabricated dental aligner from a dental mold.
 3. The methodof claim 2, further comprising: determining, based on the comparison,whether the fabricated dental aligner was cut from the dental moldwithin a tolerance of an intended cut line.
 4. The method of claim 2,wherein the comparison comprises: mapping, by the processor, at least aportion of a digital cut line to the digital dental aligner, the digitalcut line based on the cut line file.
 5. The method of claim 4, whereinthe comparison comprises: determining, by the processor, whether theportion of the digital cut line corresponds to an edge of the digitaldental aligner.
 6. The method of claim 2, wherein the comparisoncomprises: overlaying, by the processor, a digital cut line from the cutline file with the digital dental aligner.
 7. The method of claim 6,wherein the comparison comprises: calculating, by the processor, adistance between a portion of the digital cut line and an edge of thedigital dental aligner.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the digitaldental aligner includes at least one of a two-dimensional image or athree-dimensional model of the fabricated dental aligner.
 9. The methodof claim 8, further comprising: comparing, by the processor, an imagecorresponding to the at least one of the two-dimensional image or thethree-dimensional model of the fabricated dental aligner with acorresponding image of a dental mold used to form the fabricated dentalaligner.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein surface features of thefabricated dental aligner are enhanced to capture the surface featureswhen generating the digital dental aligner.
 11. The method of claim 10,wherein the surface features are enhanced using a predetermined spectrumof light that illuminates the fabricated dental aligner to identifysurface imperfections.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein flagging thefabricated dental aligner at least one of (i) causes a fabricationsystem to fabricate a replacement dental aligner, or (ii) indicates atleast one of that the fabricated dental aligner requires furtherinspection by a technician or that the fabricated dental aligner isrejected.
 13. The method of claim 1, further comprising: analyzing, bythe processor, an image of a dental mold used to form the fabricateddental aligner to determine if the dental mold can be used to fabricatesubsequent dental aligners.
 14. A system for analyzing a quality of adental aligner, the system comprising: a processor and memory coupled tothe processor and storing instructions that, when executed by theprocessor, cause the processor to: receive a digital dental alignergenerated based on a fabricated dental aligner, wherein the digitaldental aligner is a point cloud of a virtual three-dimensional (3D)model of the fabricated dental aligner; analyze the digital dentalaligner to identify a quality characteristic of the fabricated dentalaligner by comparing the virtual 3D model of the fabricated dentalaligner with a point cloud of a 3D model of a dental arch of acorresponding patient, wherein the comparison comprises: identifying oneor more common points on the point clouds of the 3D models; aligning thevirtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner and the 3D model ofthe dental arch of the corresponding patient based on the one or morecommon points; calculating a distance between the one or more commonpoints when the virtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner andthe 3D model of the dental arch of the corresponding patient arealigned; and comparing the distance with a threshold; and flag thefabricated dental aligner based on the identified qualitycharacteristic, wherein the identified quality characteristic is basedon the comparison of the distance with the threshold.
 15. The system ofclaim 14, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:compare the digital dental aligner with a cut line file used to cut thefabricated dental aligner from a dental mold; and determine, from thecomparison, whether the fabricated dental aligner was cut from thedental mold within a tolerance of an intended cut line.
 16. The systemof claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:map at least a portion of a digital cut line to the digital dentalaligner, the digital cut line based on the cut line file; and determinewhether the portion of the digital cut line corresponds to a geometry ofthe fabricated dental aligner.
 17. The system of claim 15, wherein theinstructions further cause the processor to: overlay a digital cut linefrom the cut line file with the digital dental aligner; and calculate adistance between a portion of the digital cut line and a geometry of thedigital dental aligner.
 18. A quality control system comprising: animaging system configured to: enhance a quality characteristic of afabricated dental aligner; capture an image of the qualitycharacteristic; and generate a digital dental aligner including thequality characteristic of the fabricated dental aligner based on thecaptured image, wherein the digital dental aligner is a point cloud of avirtual three-dimensional (3D) model of the fabricated dental aligner;and a processor and memory coupled to the processor and storinginstructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processorto: analyze the quality characteristic of the digital dental aligner bycomparing the virtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner with apoint cloud of a 3D model of a dental arch of a corresponding patient,wherein the comparison comprises: identifying one or more common pointson the point clouds of the 3D models; aligning the virtual 3D model ofthe fabricated dental aligner and the 3D model of the dental arch of thecorresponding patient based on the one or more common points;calculating a distance between the one or more common points when thevirtual 3D model of the fabricated dental aligner and the 3D model ofthe dental arch of the corresponding patient are aligned; and comparingthe distance with a threshold; and flag the fabricated dental alignerbased on the analysis of the quality characteristic, wherein theidentified quality characteristic is based on the comparison of thedistance with the threshold.
 19. The quality control system of claim 18,wherein flagging the fabricated dental aligner at least one of (i)causes a fabrication system to fabricate a replacement dental aligner,or (ii) indicates at least one of that the fabricated dental alignerrequires further inspection by a technician or that the fabricateddental aligner is rejected.